Fire
by Light Blue Walls
Summary: Katie wasn't afraid of fire or death, and Charlie was beginning to worry. KBOW


Title: Fire  
Characters: Katie, Charlie, Nora, Ginny  
Pairings: Katie/Oliver  
Notes: There will be prequels and sequels to this, I just had to get this out of my head. Also, Ginny here is basically the personality I made up for her, not the Ginny-Sue that she became in the last few books. Hope I did a decent job with it, and enjoy!

**_Fire_**

Katie loved the life-and-death thrill of training dragons. She loved the adrenaline rush, the feeling of blood pumping desperately though her veins, the way she felt _alive_.

Because she wasn't alive. Not really.

_He _was engaged. _He _loved someone else. _He_ would never know how much Katie loved him. And that killed her.

Fire curled dangerously close to her head, and Katie dodged, rolling over on her broomstick. The voices of the other trainers called out to her, but Katie just laughed. What were they so afraid of?

"Katie, get you arse down here! You're going to get yourself killed!" Charlie Weasley had always seen Katie as his little sister, considering the amount of time she spent around the twins, but Katie just scoffed at his worry.

_It's just death._

"I got it, Charlie! Don't worry!" Katie shouted back, urging her broom to go faster. He tried to protest, but with the wind in her ears, Katie could hear nothing.

There had been a few times when Katie truly thought Oliver loved her. They never kissed, never said those three special words, but the way he looked at her – she was almost certain. But those moments passed quickly, and he moved on to some Puddlemere fangirl, leaving Katie to cry herself to sleep.

But Katie was tired of crying. When he announced his engagement, she was gone, off to Romania where the only thing to crush your heart was the claw of a dragon.

Fred had protested. He knew how dangerous Charlie's work was, and after losing Percy in the war, he refused to lose his best friend, too. But he knew Katie's love for Oliver, and in the end he let her go.

_Let me go,_ she thought, scoffing. _Like he could have stopped me._

It was true, Katie was a force of nature. Loud, strong, almost dangerous, she took on the dragons like they were puppies (and was starting to collect a beautiful array of scars to prove it.) They crawled across her skin like needlework, melting her façade and presenting her broken state to the world. She was poorly patched together, ready to fall apart.

The dragon howled, blasting another coil of flames towards her. She dodged it again, aiming a beautifully perfected stunning spell towards the beast's eyes. The dragon stumbled backwards, and two of the other keepers were able to throw chains around its neck, pinning it to the ground.

Katie let out a whoop, punching her fist into the air. Charlie Weasley let out an audible sigh, speeding over to help the other chain up the dragon. Katie took a victory lap, laughing.

"Bell! Watch out!" Nora, one of the few girls there and Katie's roommate, shouted, a panicked tone in her voice. Katie spun to see the dragon's tail slam down on her, the spikes driving into her shoulder.

The world seemed to spin, and Katie could feel the rocky round against her back, the stake-like spines of the dragon's tail impaling her painfully. The sky was a lovely shade of blue (her favorite kind of day) and something hot and sticky was soaking her clothes. Katie vaguely wondered if she was dying.

When she came to, she recognized the pale ceiling of the nursing station, and almost cried. She had been so close to death, she could almost _taste_ it. It had been so sweet, so addictive, so _real_.

"Katie, are you awake?" Charlie asked (when did he get here?). Katie nodded, groaning as her shoulder seemed to burst into flames.

"Oh, girl, you scared us!" Nora let out a breath of relief, taking hold of Katie's hand. "That Long-Horn took a good swing at you. We thought you were a goner for sure!"

_If only_. "How long have I been here?" Katie asked, struggling to sit up. Charlie pushed her back down (gently, off course) and shook his head.

"A day. You're only halfway through the healing process, and Healer Barbu says you'll have to go through some physical therapy to get that shoulder working right."

Katie nodded. "When can I start up work again?"

Nora looked at Charlie. "Well, Kate, we think you should take some time off work. You've been getting a bit reckless lately, and we don't want you to re-injure yourself so quickly. We were thinking you should take a vacation, go home-"

"No." The word flew from Katie's mouth, nearly cutting her lips with its sharpness (and who could really blame the poor girl?). Nora looked taken aback, but Charlie nodded with understanding.

"How about this, then: you'll work in the nursery with the trainees while you complete your physical therapy, and then you can work your way up to the big boys again. Sound like a deal?" Charlie asked, grinning sadly.

Katie nodded (the memory of home constricted her throat so tightly she could no longer speak). The two got up to leave, but Katie grabbed onto Charlie's hand.

"Please," she half-whispered, her throat still clenched. "Don't tell Fred and George. Especially Fred. He'll be up here trying to ship me back to England, and you know I can't go back. Not yet."

Charlie nodded, wishing that he didn't have to hide this from his family. But he figured it was for the best that they didn't see Katie like this (they would have enough to deal with when they eventually saw all of her new scars).

So when Katie was finally allowed to sleep in her own bed again, she was absolutely shocked to find Ginny in her room, chatting happily with Nora. They both looked up at her arrival, the latter making some excuse to leave the two alone. Katie just about turned around and walked out the door, when Ginny grabbed her hand, holding her back.

"He didn't tell the twins. Just me. Please don't be mad at Charlie," Ginny pleaded as Katie turned to face her. Katie said nothing, opting just to sit on her bed and stare at the girl (She really hadn't changed a lot; her hair was still pulled into those silly, messy braids, and even here, now, she had dirt on her face, under her nails, on her jeans. She smelled faintly of flowers, and her freckled face was scratched a little.)

"I was worried, Katie. Charlie was so upset, saying that you wouldn't let him tell the twins, which meant he couldn't tell Mum or Dad, and he figured Bill would be too responsible about it, and Ron can't keep his mouth shut, but he had to tell _someone_. So he wrote me up and made me _swear_ I wouldn't tell anyone, and I did, but he still seemed worried so I came up here to see you. I had to tell Harry, understand, but he's a good liar. Ron and Hermione and the twins think I'm visiting Luna and Rolf this weekend, so no one will know you're hurt. Is that okay?" The pretty redhead twirled the end of a braid between her fingers, looking down (Yes, she was still the sweet, nervous little girl that Katie had come to love as a sister).

"Yeah, Ginny, it's okay. You just surprised me, is all." Katie looked down as Ginny sat next to her, lacing their fingers together.

"I just…I was worried you weren't okay. I mean, I knew Charlie said you were on the mend, but I don't mean physically. I mean, Fred says you were completely heartbroken when you left England." Ginny said, gasping quietly when she noticed Katie's scars.

"I'm fine, Gin. I just…need some more time away. You understand, don't you?" The redhead nodded, tracing her fingers up and down Katie's scars.

"Yeah, I guessed that was what you were going to say. Just… just come home eventually, Kit. Please?" She began twirling her hair again, and Katie clasped the girl's tiny hand between both of her own.

"I promise, Ginny. I'm not running away. Just…vacationing." Ginny stood, ready to go see her brother and leave Katie in peace.

"Some vacation. You look like a dragon's chew-toy."

Katie gave the girl a smile as she left, closing the door behind her.

* * *

A few months later and Katie was back on her broom, wrestling with a Horntail as Charlie shouted at her for being too risky. Life was normal (which was good, right?).

No major injuries occurred with this one, except for a new scar on Katie's leg. Charlie was reprimanding her for putting her life in danger(same old, same old) when an owl swooped into the dining hall where they were eating, dropping a letter onto Katie's lap. She recognized Ginny's neat scribble and tore it open, mouth still full of cereal. She swallowed hard, then dropped the parchment like it burned her. Charlie watched curiously as she ran off, then picked up the letter and read.

_Katie,_

_Oliver's engagement has been called off. _

_Come home._

_Ginny_

He stood, and jogged out the door, searching the reservation buildings until he found her curled up inside on of the pens in the nursery, playing with a baby Short-Snout.

"Katie?" He asked, crouching down next to her. "You okay?"

"M'fine, Charlie. Really. Just wanted some quality time with Xavier." He rolled his eyes. Of _course_ she would have already named it.

"Seriously, Kate, are you okay? Does this mean you're going home?" She looked at him like he had gone insane.

"Of course not! Just because the man I love is no longer getting married doesn't mean I'm going back to throw myself at his feet! Louisa was not the first girl, and she won't be the last. I've been trying to catch Oliver Wood since I was twelve, and he's ignored ever, single, _fucking_ advance that I made on him. It will never happen, and I know this now. I like living here, I love working here. I have friends and a good job and I don't need Oliver _Fucking _Wood." There was a fire in her voice that Charlie had never heard before, and frankly, it scared him.

Her voice softened. "I'll go home, eventually. I miss Fred and Alicia so horribly, and I miss George and Angie and Leanne and Lee and Ginny and Harry and Mama Weasley and everyone! But I'm not ready. Not just yet."

Xavier shot a little burst of fire, and Charlie could almost swear he saw Katie move her arm _into_ the flames. This girl really did have a death wish.

"Oh, don't give me that look," she snapped, dangling her finger above the dragon's mouth. "It feels good. Baby fire is weak, look! Barely a burn. Honestly, you worry as much as your sister."

Charlie was about to protest when the bells signaled the end of breakfast. "Come on, time to get back to work."

They suited up and took flight, but Charlie was barely able to concentrate with his newfound worries about Katie. He knew she had always been reckless, but now – now she was suicidal.

So when she started egging the dragon on, Charlie's shouts were louder, more desperate (Hell if his sister-of-sorts was going to die on his watch). But she didn't hear them. She never did. She just relished the feeling of life and dove straight towards the dragon's flames, laughing as they singed the tip of her ponytail and burned her boots. Charlie and Nora screamed instructions at her, and this time she partially listened. There was work to be done, and life to be lived.

Katie screeched with laughter, and dove back in to the fire.


End file.
